IX OTHEK ANIMALS. 221 



ship.' This is precisely what the dog does and the savage 

 does not do. 



Whatever be the definition adopted of religious feeling, 

 as it is exhibited (if at all) in lower man, we must admit that 

 the same kind of feeling, the same moral or intellectual qua- 

 lities, or blending of the two, are possessed at least by cer- 

 tain dogs, and by them frequently in a much higher degree 

 and in a much more real sense than by countless thousands 

 of men, including whole races thereof. 



To satisfy ourselves of this we have merely to study care- 

 fully the attitude or relation of certain dogs to their masters 

 to man. That ' man is the god of the dog,' his deity, idol, 

 or hero, is a saying usually attributed to Kobert Burns ; but, 

 whether or not such a saying really emanated from him and 

 represented his opinion or belief, the phrase is the appropriate 

 expression of an easily demonstrable fact and feature in the 

 dog's character. And there can be little doubt that the same 



O 



view perhaps not in quite the same words has been ex- 

 pressed by various authors, ancient as well as modern. Among 

 others Lord Bacon long ago wrote, 'Take an example of a dogy, 

 and mark what generosity and courage he will put on when 

 he is maintained by a man, who to him is instead of a god, 

 or melior natural Both figuratively and in very truth man is 

 frequently certainly not always the god or providence of 

 the dog. That man is sometimes at least the god of the dog 

 is true, and in a far more real sense than that the God of the 

 Bible is the subject of genuine adoration by many so-called 

 Christians. It may be said with the utmost propriety that 

 to certain dogs man's will is law, man's love is heaven, 

 man's self is god (Cobbe). 



The dog's worship of man in many respects compares 

 favourably with much at least of man's worship of superior 

 beings, real or supposed, animate, inanimate, or spiritual. 

 It does so, for instance, in the quality and duration of the 

 loce, which it lavishes not alone upon the person, but upon 

 the memory and the belongings of the being it adores. 



Its affection is not only pure, sincere, earnest, hearty, 

 thorough ; it is also disinterested : for it survives neglect 

 and cruelty of all kinds. It is simple, for the animal seems 



